David Cameron gives his crucial speech to the Tory party conference tomorrow - a speech that will go some way towards deciding whether he has a real shot at becoming the next British Prime Minister. Despite the rotten polls and the talk of a snap election next month I'm unconvinced (albeit from a distance) that the Tories are toast yet.
Still, it's good to see that Gordon Brown's commitment to a "new politics" remains rock-solid. Matt d'Ancona explains:
So Gordon Brown, having brought forward his trip to Iraq, says that more than 1,000 troops will be home by Christmas. Is this the same Gordon Brown who said at Camp David that no announcement on troop drawdown would be made until he delivered his Commons statement, set for next week? What encouraged the PM to break this promise and make the declaration now? Surely not the Tories' strong showing in Blackpool?
The Spectator's Coffee House blog has heaps of sharp conference commentary, well worth checking out.
I'll take anything Ancona says about the Tories 'strong performance' in Blackpool with a large dose of the salts, never mind a pinch.
The Tories are struggling in almost every way imaginable to communicate their differences with Labour effectively and also get across any sort of message of competence. This is despite unveiling big policy initiatives of their own, largely, it has to be said in riposte to Ancona, revealed by their policy study groups before the conference...
The only matter I do agree with Ancona on is Brown's reversal on the troops announcement being made in the Commons first. But again, the PM has the platform to steal the agenda and the news coverage away from the Tories - and he's doing that job well, despite what I generally think of him...
Posted by: Panenka'sChip | October 02, 2007 at 06:18 PM